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Software Icon McAfee Charged in Cryptocurrency Scam

Software Icon McAfee Charged in Cryptocurrency Scam
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Software Icon McAfee Charged in Cryptocurrency Scam

Software Icon McAfee Charged in Cryptocurrency Scam

The creator of McAfee computer security software was facing charges Friday that he cashed in on a "pump-and-dump" scheme, by promoting cryptocurrencies on Twitter to drive up their value.

John McAfee, founder of the antivirus firm that bears his name, and Jimmy Watson face charges of conspiracy, fraud, and money laundering in connection with schemes to trick cryptocurrency investors, according to an indictment unsealed by the US Department of Justice.

"McAfee and Watson exploited a widely used social media platform and enthusiasm among investors in the emerging cryptocurrency market to make millions through lies and deception," US attorney Audrey Strauss said in a release.

McAfee, Watson, and other members of their "cryptocurrency team" allegedly "raked in more than $13 million from investors they victimized with their fraudulent schemes," according to Strauss.

Pump-and-dump schemes typically involve over-hyping the value of stocks or, in this case cryptocurrency, by holders so that they can be sold at artificially high prices.

"McAfee and Watson used social media to perpetrate an age-old pump-and-dump scheme," FBI assistant director William Sweeney said.

"When engaging in illegal activity, simply finding new ways to carry out old tricks won't produce different results."

McAfee and Watson also used Twitter to promote digital tokens on behalf of initial coin offerings without disclosing they were being paid for their efforts by the startups, according to the indictment.

McAfee, 75, is in custody in Spain pending a decision on his extradition to the United States where he is wanted for tax evasion.

He has been held at a prison near Barcelona since he was arrested in the Spanish city in October just as he was about to board a flight to Istanbul.

The arrest followed his indictment in June in the United States for tax evasion and willful failure to file tax returns between 2014 and 2018, despite earning millions from consulting work, cryptocurrencies and selling the rights to his life story.

Since making a fortune with his eponymous antivirus software in the 1980s, McAfee has become a self-styled cryptocurrency guru.

He has one million followers on Twitter, where he describes himself as a "lover of women, adventure and mystery."

McAfee made headlines after he moved to Belize and his neighbor in the Central American country was mysteriously murdered in 2012, a crime that remains unsolved.

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World

US Aircraft Evacuated from Second UK Base Due to Iran Threat

A B-1 bomber takes off from RAF Fairford airbase, as the US removes its B-1 bombers one week after several men were arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video in Fairford, Gloucestershire, Britain on Oct 4, 2026. — X/CraigYoungMedia via Reuters
A B-1 bomber takes off from RAF Fairford airbase, as the US removes its B-1 bombers one week after several men were arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video in Fairford, Gloucestershire, Britain on Oct 4, 2026. — X/CraigYoungMedia via Reuters
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US Aircraft Evacuated from Second UK Base Due to Iran Threat

A B-1 bomber takes off from RAF Fairford airbase, as the US removes its B-1 bombers one week after several men were arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video in Fairford, Gloucestershire, Britain on Oct 4, 2026. — X/CraigYoungMedia via Reuters
A B-1 bomber takes off from RAF Fairford airbase, as the US removes its B-1 bombers one week after several men were arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act, in this screengrab obtained from a social media video in Fairford, Gloucestershire, Britain on Oct 4, 2026. — X/CraigYoungMedia via Reuters

The US military evacuated aircraft from a second airbase in Britain on Monday after a threat from Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, weeks after the US withdrew its bombers from RAF Fairford airbase over a suspected Iran-linked security incident.

Two US refueling tankers that were using the RAF Mildenhall military base diverted to Germany earlier on Monday, while several other ‌tankers at ‌the base were moved to ‌Germany ⁠and other locations later ⁠in the day, the WSJ report said.

According to the Journal, the precise nature of the threat to RAF Mildenhall remains under discussion among US officials.

“We do not routinely comment on the activity of other nations. Aircraft and other assets move ⁠regularly according to operational requirements,” a British ‌ministry of defense spokesperson said.

The ‌Pentagon and the US European Command did not ‌immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment sent ‌outside regular business hours.

Five men were arrested outside RAF Fairford airbase in southwest England in September over a security incident with two others arrested later on suspicion of ‌assisting Iranian intelligence.

The circumstances of the incident, which remain largely unexplained, attracted huge international ⁠attention, ⁠coming at a time of heightened concern about the security implications for Western states of the war between the United States and Iran, and prompted the US to remove its B-1 bombers from the Fairford airbase on security grounds.

RAF Fairford had been used by US bombers to carry out strikes on Iran.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said last month that the activity at RAF Fairford was likely to have been coordinated in Iran, which Tehran's ambassador to Britain has denied.

World

US-mediated Talks with Russia and Ukraine to Start in Abu Dhabi

US-led talks on ending the war in Ukraine will resume in Abu Dhabi. IRYNA RYBAKOVA / The 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate/AFP
US-led talks on ending the war in Ukraine will resume in Abu Dhabi. IRYNA RYBAKOVA / The 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate/AFP
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US-mediated Talks with Russia and Ukraine to Start in Abu Dhabi

US-led talks on ending the war in Ukraine will resume in Abu Dhabi. IRYNA RYBAKOVA / The 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate/AFP
US-led talks on ending the war in Ukraine will resume in Abu Dhabi. IRYNA RYBAKOVA / The 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Separate/AFP

Negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States will hold talks in Abu Dhabi Tuesday on ending Europe's worst conflict since World War II, in the first such meeting in more than nine months.

Europe -- alarmed by US President Donald Trump floating a deal with Moscow on European security ahead of the talks -- will also send representatives to Abu Dhabi, as another winter of war approaches.

Trump has pushed for an end to the Russia-Ukraine war since returning to power, but previous talks produced no breakthroughs and the process became sidelined by the US-Israeli war against Iran.

Europe and Ukraine fear the United States will force a deal on Kyiv that would amount to a de-facto capitulation, with Trump appearing to pivot towards Moscow this year, said AFP.

Moscow's invasion of Ukraine has killed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions and has dragged on for 56 months, with the Kremlin showing no sign of backing down.

Trump hinted ahead of the talks that Ukraine may have to give up land, saying: "They're going to end up with a little bit different shape, Ukraine."

Russia occupies large swathes of Ukraine but, while its troops have grinded westwards, they have not been able to seize the whole of the Donetsk region.

Moscow demands Kyiv surrender the parts of the region it still controls, vowing it will otherwise press on with its offensive.

Ukraine -- which for more than four and a half years has resisted a far larger invading army at a huge human cost -- has ruled out such a withdrawal.

Russia pummeled Ukraine in the run-up to the talks and carried out one of its deadliest strikes yet -- with Kyiv saying 55 people were killed in a frontline village as they queued for humanitarian aid.

- No 'particular expectations' -

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the intensified strikes were part of Moscow's strategy of "putting pressure on Ukraine's position" at the negotiations.

The Ukrainian military said on Tuesday that Russia had fired 162 drones and one ballistic missile overnight.

Russia's Vladimir Putin, who launched the war in February 2022, has repeatedly refused broader ceasefire offers and face-to-face talks with Zelensky.

Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff will gather the enemy sides in Abu Dhabi for the first time since February, when negotiations took place in Geneva.

The meetings would begin at 11:50 am in Abu Dhabi (0750 GMT), Russia's state-owned TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies reported.

Russia and Ukraine have held several rounds of failed talks during almost five years of war and hopes for peace are low.

"We don't have any particular expectations," a senior Ukrainian official in Kyiv told AFP.

Trump last week floated a "very big agreement" on the war that will "involve all of Europe", stoking fears Washington would collaborate with Moscow on creating a new European security architecture.

- 'We don't want Yalta 2.0' -

Shortly before launching its 2022 invasion, Moscow had issued an ultimatum to the West for NATO to roll back troops from Eastern Europe.

The diplomat who issued the demand, Sergei Ryabkov, will for the first time be part of Moscow's delegation, which is headed by Putin's nationalistic aide Vladimir Medinsky.

US envoy Kushner said Monday that a peace settlement will require direct Russia-Europe talks "on the broader security arrangements that affect them" and said Washington "recognizes difficult decisions ahead".

These announcements have stoked fears in European capitals.

"For Europe, it is clear: we do not need to establish a new security architecture for Europe," German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Monday.

He urged Moscow to "give up maximalist demands" and warned against any "negotiation show" in the UAE capital.

Zelensky has warned of a "Yalta 2.0" referring to Western leaders dividing Europe with the USSR in 1945.

According to Ukraine's chief negotiator Rustem Umerov, representatives from Britain, France, Germany and Italy, as well as NATO and EU officials, will hold separate talks with Kyiv's representatives in Abu Dhabi.

The Kremlin -- which has sought to keep Europe out of the talks -- said negotiations will remain "trilateral".

A recent ceasefire in the Kherson region was "a very positive precedent", Ukrainian political expert Volodymyr Fesenko told AFP, predicting Kyiv will look for "de-escalation of the war through such local truces".

Kushner and Witkoff have been accused by critics of being soft on Russia and US media have reported that the Americans are pushing large back-door business deals with Moscow.

World

Trump Says He Believes War with Iran is Militarily 'Effectively Over'

US President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 9, 2026. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP)
US President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 9, 2026. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP)
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Trump Says He Believes War with Iran is Militarily 'Effectively Over'

US President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 9, 2026. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP)
US President Donald Trump speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on November 9, 2026. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP)

President Donald Trump on Monday told reporters he believes the war in Iran “militarily is effectively over," suggesting that — at least for now — he’s not prepared to resume the bombardment that has devastated the Iranian Republic and caused reverberations across the global economy.

The president made a surprise visit to the White House briefing room after meeting earlier in the day with Qatar’s prime minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

“Iran militarily is effectively over,” Trump said. “We’re just keeping it the status quo.”

He added that Iran has been “decapitated” but said he is still looking to make sure there’s a long-term solution to ensuring that Iran’s nuclear program is defanged.

It was some of Trump's most definitive comments about moving away from his threat to resume strikes on Iran after the US midterm elections had passed.

The president's Republican Party lost both chambers of Congress to Democrats in last week's elections. The elections were shadowed by dissatisfaction among the American electorate over the 8-month-old war, which has led to a surge in fuel prices that's impacted nearly every sector of the global economy.

Trump, over the course of the conflict, has repeatedly said he is on the cusp of ordering US forces to escalate attacks if Iran’s leaders don’t quickly agree to US terms to end the war, only to back down. In earlier cycles, he has also edged away with a last-minute declaration that he’s going to give diplomacy more time.

In a posting on social media shortly before speaking to reporters, Trump once again asserted that Middle East allies "would prefer the status quo." Minutes later, in his exchange with reporters, he sought to assure war-weary Americans that there was “positive momentum” and that he saw a “good chance” that the war “could get ended.”

“They’re talking to us, and they’re talking very politely, And we’ll see what happens," Trump said. He added, “The military action doesn’t seem to be a very necessary thing, but we’re locked and loaded, ready to go for any reason that changes."

Trump, however, gave no hint of a drawdown of the thousands of US troops who have been shifted to the waters off of Iran and maintain a naval blockade to stem the flow of Iranian oil into the global market.

“We’re keeping it going. We have the greatest military blockade ever,” Trump said.

Qatari officials last week presented proposals on Iran’s nuclear program, according to two Middle East government officials familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The White House declined to comment, though Trump last week alluded to ongoing indirect talks with Tehran.

All the while, Tehran continues to insist on several concessions from the US, which Trump has declined in the past. Among the core demands Iran says must be met before engaging in nuclear talks: ending the US blockade on Iran’s ports, lifting sanctions, unfreezing its assets, issuing compensation for war damage and ending hostilities throughout the region, including Israeli operations in Lebanon.

Earlier Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has come under fire over the conflict, said the next steps on the war are up to Trump, including the possibility of telling Iran: “Hey, we’re done, and we’re going to watch your nuclear material. You better not move it.”

The defense secretary has been one of the administration's most prominent defenders of the war. Critics say the administration launched the war without proper authorization, violated the War Powers Resolution and subverted congressional war-declaring powers.

Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky moved Monday to force a vote to impeach Hegseth, largely over his execution of the war.

Trump told CNN in a phone interview Sunday that as long as the US sees progress in negotiations with the Iranians and they sign a “strong agreement,” it’s “highly unlikely it’s going to be necessary” to resume strikes.

Trump said, however, that the US had identified infrastructure targets, including 38 bridges, that it would strike if military action resumes.

The US military, meanwhile, still has carried out limited strikes on Iran, including against its air defenses, at least twice over the past week. It also fired on and disabled a commercial ship Saturday that the US says was trying to breach its naval blockade on Iranian ports.